Event commemorating MR-26-7 formation held in Havana

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Via the Cuban Office of Historical Affairs, translated from the Spanish

It was June 12, 1955. The young Fidel Castro Ruz had summoned a group of comrades to a house at 62 Factoría Street for a meeting that would define the direction of the struggle and their lives. A month earlier, he had been released from the Isle of Pines prison, where he had served time with many of his comrades for the actions of July 26, 1953. That day, the name of the revolutionary organization that would continue the Moncada struggle would be decided, and the main combat fronts to be created or consolidated within the Movement would also be defined. That evening, after proposals and analysis, the first National Directorate of the July 26th Revolutionary Movement (MR-26-7) was formed.

Seventy years later, on June 12, 2025, the Office of Historical Affairs and the Association of Combatants of the Cuban Revolution organized a panel of researchers and key figures to commemorate the date's significance at the headquarters of the historical archive founded by Celia Sánchez.

The event was chaired by Retired Brigadier General Delsa Esther Puebla Viltre, vice president of the Association of Combatants of the Cuban Revolution (ACRC); Retired Corporal César Alba García, head of the ACRC's Secretariat of Patriotic Work; Raúl Troya García, deputy head of the Directorate for the Preservation of Documentary Heritage of the Palace of the Revolution; and Jorge Luis Aneiros Alonso, director of the Office of Historical Affairs. Serving as panelists, along with the center's director, were MR-26-7 combatants Julio Dámaso Vázquez and Ramiro del Río Pérez-Teherán.

It was a day that not only revived the initial symbolic moment, but also consolidated what would become a reality from then on. A little less than a month after the release of the Moncada fighters from the prison on the Isle of Pines, the supreme leader of the Revolution was already structuring a movement which he had been reorganizing from his prison on the Isle of Pines with the Martí foundations of the young people who stormed the Moncada on July 26, 1953. The dissemination of History Will Absolve Me and its instructions for reorganizing the revolutionary forces also marked steps forward. That is why what was done on June 12th was "to name a child that had been born long before."

The speeches paid tribute to the founders of that night, as well as to those like Gerardo Abreu Fontán, Antonio Ñico López, the Ameijeiras brothers, Frank País, and others who began the arduous work of multiplying its forces throughout the country. Tribute was paid to the women combatants of the Movement, to those who worked abroad to raise funds and send weapons, to all the young people who covered the walls of Santiago and Guantánamo with "July 26" graffiti in support of Fidel; to all those who remained faithful to and support the Revolution.

The 26th of July Revolutionary Movement was unique in that its leadership remained unchanged, consistent, and firm, it led the people to victory and then carried out the construction of a new homeland. This is why the leadership of Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz was so notable. From prison, he was able to structure what would later, upon his release, become the organization that overthrew the tyranny of Fulgencio Batista. He was able to make the necessary changes to the structure at different times according to the needs of the war, and he led the tireless struggle for the unity of our people.

Of particular symbolism was the presence on June 12 of representatives from youth organizations such as FEEM, FEU, and UJC. Seventy years after the founding of MR-26-7, Fidel's Centennial Generation also makes itself felt today as heirs to the Cuban people's rebellion and their capacity to defend the just causes that our heroes championed.

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